the withdrawal of over thirty thousand troops from afghanistan is one of the main pledges and barack obama's state of the union address we examine the foreign policy areas that he wasn't exactly keen to talk about. silence is broken israeli media lifts a shroud of secrecy over the death of an alleged secret agent in custody despite the government trying very hard to keep it quiet. and with the europeans paying some of the highest taxes in the world the wealthy flee to places that one takes such a hefty slice. this

is r.t. armed robbery sushi with a worldwide welcome to the program barack obama used the first state of the union address of his second term to try and appease lawmakers and taxpayers making fresh promises to boost the economy and slash the debt on the issue of foreign policy though the us president did announce that thirty four thousand troops will be leaving afghanistan by next february all season he said now and joins me live in the studio here to bring us more on this and he said good to see you again today so a mixed bag of statements there from president obama's state of the union can you give us some of the main highlights sore than the big announcement on afghanistan top the address after over eight decades of war troops are coming home in twenty fourteen according to obama now the president pointed out there are two missions at

hangout preparing afghan forces to take over so that the contrie does not slip into chaos again key word there again it seems almost as if it's now a stable place but just today ten civilians were. ported killed in a nato strike targeting taliban insurgents now while obama spent most of his speech talking about the economy and taxes he failed to mention that so far the u.s. has invested over one hundred billion dollars in reconstruction of afghanistan and that this year it's expected another thirty billion could be spent in aid this as the afghan state is rated one of the most corrupt in the world now despite red flags from watchdogs monitoring aid they say there's no way of ensuring all this money is going to the right place or whose hands the cash is falling into and that it's too dangerous in many places in afghanistan to safely observe what's happening former m.p. . says some have become very rich including western officials while most afghans

have been left with nothing and many countries thrive on this war they make money there in their un people are others who are lined up and making fat salaries and while the life of afghan ordinary afghans have not changed we of course we have had some things like media. communication and this and that but. in relation to what was available and what could have been done it's a drop in the bucket. now obama spoke of defending democracy across the globe most notably the arab spring which has previously been held a great success by his administration especially libya egypt and tunisia all countries that are now drowning in chaos and violence two years on well obama has changed his tune a bit now saying well it's going to be messy those transitions also his tone on

syria a bit distant considering a year ago the u.s. was insisting president go now saying they will continue to put pressure on the syrian leader now another pledge from obama to continue to push for legal and durable policy on counterterrorism no meant to go of guantanamo drones or wiretapping and obama did mention internet freedoms well sort of he flaunted signing an executive order on cyber defense but the order is really seen as a response to congress's refusal to pass the cyber intelligence sharing and protection act or sis last year that was in light of serious privacy concerns in other words as a loophole for sis to be put into action. there you have it marie and he and i we thank you. and he was discussing the high points and i suppose perhaps the low point as well of the american president's state of the union as a mr president obama was talking about the future others have been taking aim there

were his plans for stricter gun control. a need for not listening to garbage got in your ears and listen to what people are saying protesters in the state of new york demonstrate against the restrictions slapped on them by the authorities following the sandy hook school massacre last december more of that to come this hour. a video of silence over the death of a top secret prisoner has been lifted by the israeli media with chad being gagged by a court order it surfaced following the report in the australian press about a man linked to the israeli secret service who hanged himself in prison after months of being held in secret details not swansea's paulus. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu summoned the editors of all the major israeli news outlets to an emergency meeting and in that meeting he asked them not to publish the story saying and i'm quoting that it would be embarrassing to

a certain government agency not at first the editors did listen and all references to the original australian report would be moved from israeli news websites but later it was for back not only to the websites but also to all the radio and t.v. stations here and certainly since the early also this morning it has been the headline news everyone though is referencing it as a report from australia not what we understand is that israeli parliament terence did oss the justice minister to confirm whether or not this report was true they also demanded to know if they were other prisoners who were being held in secret in israeli jails the justice minister's comments were and i'm quoting that there is no doubt that if this information is accurate this is something that needs to be checked state since it gave news operates in israel the green light to report on this parliamentary debate but nothing else but of course we're witnessing now that the reporting has gone much further than just this debate such a gag order it is important to say it is highly unusual in israel ways states

military sense is normally and now all the local media to quote silence saucers on controversial topics such as the alleged israeli strike in syria last month what we also understand is that various human rights groups such as human rights watch as well as the israeli civil rights movement has been aware of this particular incident for quite some time now the australian media is reporting that this man came to live in israel when he was a youngster he made what is called idea and he was recruiting on the stand by the messiah these raided secret service something went wrong and we've been given no reason for him being imprisoned but they respect the nation that it would have had to be connected somehow with espionage and sensitive state secrets the. former foreign minister avigdor lieberman has said that left wing parliamentarians have damaged israeli security by bringing this issue to the fore in the first place. to course want to pull us live reporting now tax hikes are still the default plan for

e.u. nations trying to get out of debt but europe's super rich aren't exactly happy about having to hand over buckets of their own cash advances but all of a found out. nations are suddenly looking very tempting to the. he's a leading man of stage and screen however european heads of state will be hoping share our debt by do doesn't become the leader of a tax exodus by the super rich fund to our lands decision to push through a seventy five percent top rate of tax on those earning over one million euros saw the actor up sticks and head to russia europe has some of the highest rates of taxation in the world with many giving the lion's share of the things to the state of vermont feel the need can be a balancing act of course you want to run a successful business but if you make over a certain amount you find yourself paying out huge quantities of tax over fifty

percent but there are warnings for europe that when compared to low tax countries like russia they could lose their competitive edge if their country with low taxes and with high taxes capital flow went to countries at low tax and the same is true for people with talent there's always going to be people that think the taxes are too high but a growing number are actually starting to think that it's becoming detrimental to the development of business very hard to owns a haulage company in munich currently he employs around ninety people transporting everything from the small to the big and bulky all over mainland europe he says that lowering the current rate of tax would not just make big changes to his business but also to the lives of his staff does where not only can his with him and can't he would be super first i could pay higher salaries this is a very important issue right now due to the rise in the cost of living also i can

invest more into the company and grow the business even employ more people everyone benefits something that is impossible under the current tax system and that those in power argue that the problem in european countries right now is that taxpayers want to have the best of both. the phenomenon we face regarding taxes is that everyone wants to pay as little as possible however no one is willing to give up the services that those taxes go to pay for we. tax cuts and in your business is like this one going to have to continue to struggle to bring home the bacon but it comes to saving fifty development. it's ten minutes past the hour moscow time this is the faith in teaching a religious schools are spread across. more than two decades of being banned under the previous regime leaving many

a law about the possible spread of radicalism we investigate whether islam and schools is good for young minds and that report is just ahead for you. in the testing times the u.n. security council vows to tighten sanctions on north korea defies international regulations and explode. under a remote mountain range all those details and more often the short break. you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else. and realize everything.

is a big issue. thank you for joining us here on. in the russian capital the religious state of education is making a serious comeback in tunisia two years off the regime which banned the teaching of islam was toppled the current government has no control of private muslim schools

springing up all across the country could be that they're actually spreading extremism. in one school where the koran is the main subject. tunisia's learned some tough lessons in the wake of its revolt but now the report card for what's going on in its schools is facing examination in the school in one of the poorest districts of the tunisian capital children come to learn about the qur'an and the way of life of true muslims religious education was banned under the old regime but it's making a comeback in a big way the rise of islam islam has led to an increase in the number of religious schools are springing up across the country these schools are private operating outside of the control of state officials who have no say over what's being taught in these schools and some worry that this may lead to a rise in the number of young extremists even many religious experts agree filling

your minds with religious doctrine is may not be the best way to bring up children . what that does and i read in one of the papers sent by a three year old girl to her mother with a message my beloved mom teach me about the afterlife the same way you teach about this life is this a way to teach three year old children we can see it clearly attempts to brainwash these children dr ramani carried out an extensive research of religious schools and to nice to find out whether critics were right to say that they were damaging to the country's post revolutionary development she found most schools were primarily focused on teaching strict islamic values without worrying about the effect these methods may have on youngsters. i have noticed that all female teachers at these schools where any cub while teaching you can see her face this is in contradiction with what's known in psychology as communication how can she communicate with the kids of her face is covered emotions and movement of vital to kids and social

interaction such things do not contradict our values and morals. but parents who send their children to study of these schools believe they are on the right track. educating our children with muslim values is the way to ensure that they will lead a proper life from childhood study in the koran improves memory increases thinking abilities and says the right course for the rest of their lives. at the moment not even the ministry of education is able to say exactly how many religious schools there are in tunisia after the revolution they sprung up over the country many operating without license from the state the government has acknowledged the problem but has its hands full trying to keep the economy together meaning education is on the backburner it's this absence of control that especially worrisome on top of the concerns about extremist salafist groups gaining ground. these groups don't believe in democracy the republic and freedom they consider them

to be against their religion they want to impose their way of life on to new zealand by force as if they know better than other people. after the arab spring revolt. they hope. but with radical islam permeating more and more spears of everyday life these children's future may not be exactly what many had hoped for in their quest for freedom and democracy in tunisia. of course so many more stories and some brilliant videos for you online. from.

high ranking officials and. now the u.n. security council has promised. north korea the international community third and most powerful nuclear. ultimately international outcry china north korea syria. was

among those to join the worldwide chorus of condemnation. it's key to reigning in pyongyang every senate leadership changes in the region have created an uncertain atmosphere. a lot of sanctions that could be applied are already being applied so it's really going to fall into a lot of diplomatic pressure on china to use its leverage with north korea and it's and i imagine that officials in beijing must have known that this this was coming probably in the next few days and it certainly is it couldn't have happened at a worse time internationally speaking it's the lunar new year in china so basically the entire country is on holiday and in the u.s. there is no confirmed secretary of defense or central intelligence director so it's a very interesting time crow that threw into that the wild card of xi jinping we don't know much about him or how he's going to lead china and the fact that kim jong un is a relatively new leader as well you also have the new army government in japan and

there's a lot of wildcards in this mix to see how this is going to shake out but i think on the question of china specifically i think it does have the most leverage over north korea at this point and certainly a lot of aid and support comes from china so i think they have a lot of pressure that they can put on north korea at this point ok from north korea now to iran where un nuclear inspectors are right there in iran now they're pushing for a wider access to its secret of facilities tehran says it's open for talks and may allow a visit to the parchin military complex which. some suspect is used to hold atomic experiments nuclear security expert matthew mcallester he says it's a promising move but only direct talks between tehran and washington can ultimately resolve it all. if the international society and i ate meat inspectors are allowed in this this is definitely going to be a very good sign from it on to the international society that it has to be mentioned that. this would not be the first time i would go into power to.

the board if i'm not mistaken three times and i have not found any but still concerned to have the raise it on that has not yet replied to questions posed to them one thing many analysts tend to agree on is that in order to in order to stop the for crimes the feeling in crisis as there is a need for direct hearing in american talks and this is something that we are not seeing at all. starting with thailand let's get into the on sea world update now one thousand insurgents were killed after they launched a pre-dawn assault on a military base in the country's south over one hundred heavily armed fighters stormed the marine camp on the malaysian border the troops did repel the attack suffering no injuries themselves the rate is the heaviest millicent's of type of several years in the rest of south. where police used tear gas and stun

grenades to disperse hundreds of protesters in the country's capital one day before the two year anniversary of the uprising people marched in the streets carrying bahraini flags and chanting and government slogans accusing the ruling regime of corruption and human rights violations have been staging demonstrations since early two thousand and eleven all the while demanding political reform and i want removal of the ruling family and blaming them for the violent crackdown on protests. and it is to hand over the syrian embassy in the capital doha to the opposition syrian national coalition opposition leader and news out of hierarchy who claims he was recently appointed as ambassador to. the handover is just formal procedure to acknowledging his new post the national coalition was formed in doha eighteen months ago and was recognized by another gulf states as syria's representative.

nearly four million british adults have never had any form of paid work in their lives that's also most of the population of wales and a recent court ruling and some of the schemes to get people into work as unlawful the whole explanation to a correspondence. university graduate kate riley and forty year old jamison wilson succeeded in their claims that their unpaid work that they were made to take part in was indeed a little for them a small but significant victory now the law is that that ruling say it could mean that thousands of people who have their benefits stripped from the under similar circumstances in this government work program could we claim that money that could leave the door open to millions of pounds compensation that would be footed by the taxpayer of course that's causing a lot of concern darkies done its own investigation into the work program in

response to what's the government has said that it was rigged to suggest that there were any problems with the work program and that it wasn't helping people get back into work but look this is all being quite embarrassing for the government today now speak to us more about this i'm joined by amery o'reilly for the boycott workfare program thank you very much for joining us a small victory do you think. by now because on the surface of it it seems like a big deal and a win the obviously the people involved in that but is this going to be as hard hitting as far reaching well today's ruling is really significant for us it shows that workfare forced unpaid work in the u.k. isn't just wrong it's also been unlawful but you're right it doesn't go far enough for still a lot to be done when of this my significant schemes mandatory work activity is still intact and really disturbingly the government threatening to bring emergency regulation through to bring workfare straight back in the future controversial

loads of criticism about these government work schemes but they are schemes that are employed in the governor's quite right getting people back into jobs are they not unemployment in the u.k. the moment is a huge huge issue but the government nice that these schemes don't work instead of helping create jobs what they're doing is replacing paid work effect. replacing jobs that would exist if the schemes were and then place not only that the governments are using these schemes to massage the unemployment figures because when people are forced to work without pay on the schemes they can't count them as having a job a very strange definition of having a job where not a single person is receiving a wage for them before one graduate who is on the program certainly a small but significant victory in a fluid that k. fed today it certainly means that the government now has to go back to the drawing board when it comes to their work schemes. to sara first now with barack obama focused on stricter gun control it's already dividing the country many americans believe he's taking them down the wrong path the state of new york is the first to

fall into line flocking of customers who buy large amounts of ammunition and introducing health checks for potential gun owners and associates are going to report on how the people there are taking it. the big apple business as usual. a few hours by train the empire state capital. as the united states remains divided when it comes to what to do with guns in this country after a recent series of shootings hundreds of anti-gun control protesters gathered outside the state capitol building in albany hear the toughest state law on firearms in the u.s. after the sandy hook elementary school shooting the same fact was passed a month ago the. and those whose guns are at stake are far from happy till i look like a terrorist because they will look like a fanatic among other provisions the new state law bans weapon sales over the web restrict ammo magazines to seven bullets include stricter background checks and

regular the certification cuomo signed that law in a mill and i without these three days were to be allowing the people to read it. these protesters say their second amendment right to bear arms under the u.s. constitution is being stepped on by the legislators they need to smarten up and listen to get the garbage out in your ears and listen to what the people are saying gun owners believe politicians are looking for criminals in the wrong places i've been a gun owner for thirty years and now some of the guns i have in my locker are now illegal well i've never had a. you that's mark and taken my life there's nothing wrong with good law abiding citizens had firearms it's just it's an assessment because this legislation is not going to stop hardened criminals obsessed with firearms it's not going to stop drug dealers it's not going to stop murderers it's not going to stop latest so what is

the answer as the u.s. struggles to find common ground on where the gun debate should take the country next i think the fear finest man anyone does a crime with a gun here. no slap on the hand no pro bono and that is. what you see in the country well the position of these gun advocates is clear what remains to be seen is whether the us as a whole can ever come to a compromise and especially if you're going r r t albany. the whole dilemma of gun control that's also being brought up in our special report what are becoming a way off of this short break.

we'll have the. science technology innovation all the moves to mellow minutes from around russia we've got the future covered. more news today violence is once again flared up. these are the images the world has been seeing from the streets of canada. giant corporations rule the day.

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